The present invention relates to child seats and, in particular, to a reclining child seat.
Parents and care givers for infants and children routinely use seats or chairs in the care of children. For example, a care giver may place a child in a high chair to assist in feeding the child. The care giver may also use a mechanized child swing to sooth or entertain a child.
Infants and small children often pass from wakefulness to sleep in just a few minutes. Many parents are familiar with the experience of having a child fall asleep in a high chair while eating a meal. Mechanized swings are also used help a child go to sleep. However, when a child falls asleep in a high chair or a swing, the child is usually in an upright position. This body position often prevents the child from resting well. Thus, a child care giver must lay the child down for the duration of the child""s sleep. However, removing the child from the seat may cause unwanted disruption to the child""s slumber. Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved child seat that may be easily reclined to allow the child to recline and sleep without disruption.
While reclining seats are known in the art, there exists a need for a reclining child seat that can be operated easily. There further exists a need for a child seat with a back rest that may be adjusted simply and locked into position securely. A need also exists for a reclining child seat which allows the child care giver to choose the desired adjustment angle of a seat back relative to a seat surface by seeing potential engagement positions.
According to the present invention, a chair comprising a seat member, a back rest, and first and second recline mechanisms is provided. The chair may form part of a child swing or a child high chair, for example. The seat member includes first and second back rest support portions, each having a tooth-receiving member at an upper exterior surface thereof. The back rest is pivotally connected to the seat member. The recline mechanisms each include a lever mounted to the back rest. The lever has a tooth for receipt in the tooth-receiving member, and the lever is movable between an engaged state and a disengaged state. When the lever is in the engaged state, the tooth engages the tooth-receiving member to prevent rearward pivotal motion of the back rest relative to the seat member. When the lever is in the disengaged state, the tooth is disengaged from the tooth-receiving member. When the levers of the first and second recline mechanisms both are in the disengaged state, the back rest is allowed to pivot relative to the seat member.
The tooth-receiving member of each back rest support portion may comprise a slot formed at the upper exterior surface of the back rest support portion. The tooth-receiving member may be a first tooth-receiving member, and each back rest support portion may further comprise a second tooth-receiving member. In such an arrangement, the levers may position the back rest at a first angle relative to the seat member when the teeth of the levers engage the first tooth-receiving members, and the levers may position the back rest at a second angle relative to the seat member when the teeth of the levers engage the second tooth-receiving members. The tooth-receiving members may be formed at the upper surface of each back rest support portion at locations to correspond to different recline angles of the back rest relative to the seat member.
The back rest further may comprise a side fender with a window disposed therein, and the lever may comprise a grip extending through the window. In addition, the lever may be biased to the engaged state by a spring element, such as a spring or a spring arm.
The lever may comprise an upper portion having guide nub, a lower portion having a pivot member, and a spring retention post, and the back rest may comprise a first rib having a guide reception slot, a second rib having a pivot reception slot, and a spring bearing area. In another embodiment, the lever may comprise an upper portion having guide nub and a lower portion having a pivot member, and the back rest may comprise a guide nub bearing area, a spring arm bearing area, and a pivot axle.
According to another aspect of the invention, a chair is provided that comprises a seat member having first and second sides, a back rest pivotally connected to the seat member, and first and second recline mechanisms. Each side of the seat member has a tooth-receiving member. The recline mechanisms each include a lever mounted to the back rest. The lever has a barbed tooth, and the lever is movable between an engaged state and a disengaged state. When the lever is in the engaged state, the barbed tooth engages the tooth-receiving member to prevent rearward pivotal motion of the back rest relative to the seat member, and, when the lever is in the disengaged state, the barbed tooth is disengaged from the tooth-receiving member. When the levers of the recline mechanisms are both in the disengaged state, the back rest is allowed to pivot relative to the seat member.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a chair is provided that comprises a seat member having first and second sides, a back rest pivotally connected to the seat member, and first and second recline mechanisms. Each side of the seat member has a first set of tooth-receiving members. The recline mechanism each include a lever mounted to the back rest. The lever has a set of teeth, and the lever is movable between an engaged state and a disengaged state. When the lever is in the engaged state, the set of teeth engages the set of tooth-receiving members to prevent rearward pivotal motion of the back rest relative to the seat member. When the lever is in the disengaged state, the set of teeth is disengaged from the set of tooth-receiving members. When the levers of the recline mechanisms are both in the disengaged states, the back rest is allowed to pivot relative to the seat member. The chair may include first and second sets of tooth-receiving members. The first set of tooth-receiving members may comprise a first pair of adjacent slots formed in the seat member, and the second set of tooth-receiving members may comprise a second pair of adjacent slots formed in the seat member spaced from the first pair of adjacent slots. The set of teeth may comprise a pair of teeth arranged to selectively engage the first and second pairs of adjacent slots.
According to still another aspect of the invention, a method for changing a position of a back rest of a chair relative to a seat member of the chair is provided. The method comprises providing the chair with a back rest support portion. The back rest support portion has a plurality of tooth-receiving slots on an upper exterior surface thereof. The method also comprises mounting a lever to the back rest, the lever having a tooth for receipt in the tooth-receiving slots. The method further comprises engaging the tooth in a first one of the tooth-receiving slots to position the back rest at a first angle relative to the seat member; disengaging the tooth of the lever from the first one of the tooth-receiving slots; pivoting the back rest relative to the seat member; and engaging the tooth in a second one of the tooth-receiving slots to position the back rest at a second angle relative to the seat member. The disengaging step may include deforming a spring that biases the lever into an engaged state.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a chair is provided that comprises a seat member, a back rest pivotally connected to the seat member, and a recline mechanism. The back rest support portion has a tooth-receiving member. The recline mechanism includes a lever mounted to the back rest, and the lever has a tooth for receipt in the tooth-receiving member. The lever is movable between an engaged state, in which the tooth is received in the tooth-receiving member, and a disengaged state, in which the tooth is disengaged from the tooth-receiving member. When the lever is in the engaged state, inclining the back rest causes the lever to assume the disengaged state.
Various preferred embodiments of the invention will now be set forth in more detail. These embodiments are provided by way of example only, and should not be construed as limiting. Other embodiments as would occur to those skilled in the art are also within the spirit and scope of this invention.